The Quest for a Contradiction
by Little Red Raven
Summary: Jesse James is an infamous thief known around the world, or at least her namesake is, and when she's sucked into a quest with none other than the Ghost King, Nico Di Angelo, everything seems to change. With a mother out to change her Fate, Jesse's life is in even more danger than it should be. Rated T for swearing and minor suggestiveness.


**A/N: Hey, Raven here! Hope you like my newest story, I still can't make any promises about my updates. **

**Enjoy the story of Jesse James!**

Prologue: Mystery Dad

I stared out at the black figure in the street, wondering if I should finally get up the courage to go outside and face him.

For some reason, he didn't scare me, he didn't even make me nervous, he was… welcoming almost.

I wondered if he was there for me, looking up into my second story window and wondering, "when will she come? When can I help her?"

I looked at my clock. It was one a.m. and I wasn't the slightest bit tired, I looked out the window, parting the shade, he was still there, I smiled to myself.

Time to meet my guardian angel.

I was in a tank-top nightgown that fell to my knees,, so I padded barefoot down the stairs, and slipped silently out the door, I was good at sneaking around like that, always had been.

The man was still standing there, he had a box in his hand. Something he'd never had.

I walked up to him without a word and looked up into eyes that seemed so familiar to me. They weren't mine, his were like caramel, mine one blue one green; I couldn't see the rest of his face, but I knew he was handsome. He wore a trench cloak, but underneath was a… post office uniform?

That certainly confused the moment.

"Jesse, it's been so long," he whispered. As soon as I heard the voice I knew who it was, I'd remembered it so vividly.

"Dad," I whispered back. He smiled, "I thought you didn't remember."

"How could I not."

He used to sing for me, he used to bounce me on his knee and tell me stories of his travels, to Greece, Rome, England, Mexico, everywhere.

"You've been watching out for me the whole time," I stated, he nodded.

"I don't have much time I'm afraid, there are rules about these sort of things, me seeing you. Take this gift my dear, you'll know what to do, and when a young man arrives, he'll be looking for you. Go with him, and if something happens, find him, use your instincts."

I nodded, but my brow furrowed in confusion.

"I have to go back inside now don't I? You have to go."

My father nodded, "yes, my dear, but I promise, I am always looking out for you."

I nodded and smiled, then it popped into my head, "can you sing? At least until you go?"  
>My dad smiled, "oh, he always thought it ironic, saying I was stealing his gig, go inside Jesse, I will sing."<br>I smiled and gave him a quick hug. He kissed my forehead and began to sing as I turned and padded slowly back up to the door and inside. Even with the walls between us, I heard him perfectly.

The words filled my head, making me smile as I put my head on the pillow. They weren't english, but I understood them perfectly. As the song died out, I called out quietly in words I didn't know I knew, "S 'agapó̱." I love you.

I fell asleep soon afterwards, feeling calm at the ethereal happening, my dreams however, were far from it.

* * *

><p>It'd been three years since I last saw this black figure outside my window, I figured it must have been a dream.<p>

My mom and I lived in a small house with my grandparents on the outskirts of the suburbs of Chicago, the backyard was lined with the trees of the woods, meaning I explored all the time.. Our neighborhood wasn't terrible, but I wasn't allowed out front, or to walk around town unless I was within sight, even at fourteen. Mom said there were things worse than perverted men out there, things you could only describe as monsters. She had been saying that since before I can remember, I thought she was crazy, hell I thought I was crazy.

Yet, here I stood, taking the trash to the trash can as mom watched from her position washing dishes at the kitchen counter. Mom had asked that I bring in Copper, our Great Dane. He was all black and we'd had him since he was a puppy that fit in my lap. Despite his being a one-hundred-forty pound dog now, he still thought he could fit in my lap. It was a welcome distraction when it came to homework, especially math. History though was kind of annoying. I loved to learn about foreign places and dream of visiting them someday, just like my mom once did. My one wall in my bedroom was a huge map of the world with big red dots on every place I'd read about, or heard about, or my mom had been, that I wanted to go. Most of the map was red. Even the United States mid-west was full of dots.

Manhattan however, was not, not at all, nothing on, or near Long Island was pinned, except for one single address.

The return address of the box.

I still had it, the only proof that it hadn't been a dream.

I'd never opened it, too afraid of what it might contain, but as of recently, I'd been very, very tempted.

Mom was going away on a huge business trip that could result in us moving to New York City, and her becoming a big shot in the New York Times as a travel writer. We went somewhere every summer, Mom, Grandma and I. It was the best. We'd do whole trips across the country, even Copper loved it, the idea of making half of the nation his territory, I loved that puppy.

Speaking of Copper, I was doing my history homework and there was no sign of the dog.

"Copper!" I called, remembering the day I'd found him underneath a bridge in the park. I'd gone to a party and after a while, gave up on being social and went to explore. In a stream under the bridge, I'd found a little burlap sack with a little black puppy in it. He was just like me, one blue eye, one green.

I'd named him Copper, because that was how I referred to the police whenever I saw them whizzing by.

I would laugh and joke with the dog, "look, the Coppers are coming for me!"

Copper would bark and wag his tail, I'd grin and scratch behind his ears earning weird looks from pedestrians.

I was allowed to walk around as long as Copper was with me. It was the only way Mom felt safe, especially after seeing how protective he was of me. One time, when I was twelve, I'd fallen out of the tree in our yard and screamed when my wrist broke. Copper burst out the door past my mother and ran over to me, licking my face and sitting watching out for any danger.

Mom was okay with me walking around our little town with him after that.

As soon as I'd went to the backyard, I'd located Copper. He was sniffing around the fence that Mom had put in when we'd gotten him. Copper liked to run away.

I grabbed his leash, "you want to go exploring don't you?" I asked.

Copper barked and kept his gaze at the woods. He seemed eager, and extremely excited to go.

I smirked and grabbed his leash.

"Mom! I'm taking Copper for a walk in the woods, be back in an hour!" I yelled. I heard a muffled "Have fun!" come from her office.

I clipped the rust colored leash to Copper's collar and slipped my hand through the loop to get a good hold on him. As soon as I opened the gate, Copper took off running. I had to run just to keep my arm from being pulled out of socket.

"Copper! Slow down boy! Copper!" I yelled. We'd been running straight into the woods for over ten minutes, I had the stamina to do it from running cross-country, but I needed to slow down at least.

We stopped when we came to the stream, it was more of a small river. Five feet wide, and four feet deep. Copper sniffed the bank, then saw the tree that lay across the river. He bound over to it, and hopped up. I swore.

"Copper, not a good…"

The leash slipped from my wrist. I yelled Copper's name and he took off. I ran after him, crossing the log without even thinking, Despite the fact that it had just rained something awful and the river was two feet deeper and one foot wider, I managed to get across without freaking out. Copper had taken off down the bank, so I ran after him, splashing through sometimes to avoid the brush. I found Copper at the end a bend in the stream at a particularly sandy bank. Copper was licking the face of a boy.

Oh my god… he was around my age, dark black hair, black clothing, and a sword at his side.

"Copper! Careful, I think he's hurt!"

I knelt next to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder, he was so cold, but breathing, his heartbeat steady, "we have to get him home, okay, Copper?" I asked. Copper seemed to understand and licked my cheek one more time before looking over at the opposite bank. He began to growl.

"Copper, what's wrong?" I whispered, looking over there. I didn't see anything, then it appeared, a large… lion. It was beautiful, but enormous.

Copper growled.

The lion looked up at us and began to walk into the river. I looked at the boy and grabbed his sword. It was black, like obsidian, and gave off this cold feeling. I held it in two hands and kept the sword between the lion and I.

The lion growled and charged. I held the sword up and slashed at it. The lion was hit away, but not a scratch. It's skin was invulnerable. I gulped, I'd have to hit it somewhere soft, the eyes, or the jaw.

It roared and came flying at me, jaw open, I slammed the sword upwards into its jaw. Teeth punctured my arm, I yelped and Copper tackled the lion, but it was disintegrating; turning to dust.

The lion swatted Copper away and Copper yelped, blood sprouting on his nose and upper left fore-leg.

I glared at the lion and twisted the sword. It roared in pain before turning completely to dust. Only its pelt remained, and this soon morphed into a brown leather jacket. With nothing better to do with it, I put it on and put the guy's sword in its sheath, only at my belt instead of his. From here, I looked at Copper who was standing tall, still alert. I pet him, rubbing behind his ears.

"Good job, boy, let's go home now, okay?"

Copper barked and I grabbed the boy by the shoulders, putting his arms over my shoulders and semi-piggy-backing him in a way that wasn't comfortable for either of us back to the house, following Copper who seemed to know where he was going, I'd un-clipped his leash.

By the time we'd made it back to the fence, an hour had passed, mom was waiting on the porch. She went wide-eyed when she saw me.

"He's hurt, mom, we've got to get him inside."

My mother nodded and helped me get him to my bedroom, laying him on my bed.

"He was hit on the head, more than likely has a concussion." My mother said as she studied the gash at his forehead.

I nodded, "I can treat it, if you're busy."

My mother nodded, "please, I'll be right back with some better supplies," she said.

I nodded and got the boy's jacket off him, hanging it over my desk chair where my new jacket now lay.

Copper sat with his head on the bed next to the boy's hand. I smirked, whoever this guy was, Copper sure liked him.

"Here, this is the important thing," Mom said handing me a vial of amber-colored liquid.

"Not too much, about a third, dribbled into his mouth, should do the trick, other than that, gauze and water to clean the wound."

I nodded and took the stuff, I pulled a stool over and sat down, as I cleaned the head wound, I noticed that contrary to in the woods, he was feverish. I sighed to myself and finished cleaning his wound, then wrapped some gauze around his brow. After this, I then noticed some bruising around the hem of his t-shirt where it had ridden up. God help me, I lifted his shirt some and saw a nasty cut that looked infected. I cleaned that out as well before telling Copper to watch him. I went to the bathroom and grabbed some Triple-Antibiotic Cream and dabbed it over the wound before putting some gauze on his waist. I then put his shirt back down and dribbled one-third of the liquid into his mouth.

After that, I grabbed my homework from the living room and sat on the floor opposite the bed, keeping watch on our mystery guest, though I left the door open for obvious reasons. His sword now lay on the floor next to me, other than that, I didn't really do anything. I'd finished my history work then my science, putting the finished homework with the rest of it in my bag.

At this point, I was bored, but didn't feel like leaving the boy alone in my room, so I began to play with the jacket from the lion and test its resilience. Over an hour and a had had passed when the boy moaned and failed miserably to sit up. I put the jacket down and went to the bedside. He was freaking out, but still pretty weak.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. It's alright," I whispered, trying to soothe him. The boy blinked sleepily and loosened up, his hand though was locked on my forearm, "who…?" He choked.

I hushed him and caressed his face, "I'm Jesse, and you're sick, it's okay, sleep, Copper and I will protect you."

The boy blinked and his head fell back against the pillow; he loosened his grip on my arm.

"Rest," I told him, stroking his hair out of his face. He was sweating profusely, his bandages were soaked, so I removed the bandaging with the intent to change it, but the wound was healed completely, save for a minor red mark. The same went for the wound at his waist.

I tossed the bandaging in the trash and picked up the vial of amber liquid. This stuff was amazing, I wondered what it was.

Something in the back of my head said nectar. As if I'd already known. I shrugged to myself. This must be nectar from a god.

Just then, my grandmother came up the stairs and stood in my doorway, "you're mother says we have a… oh my," she muttered.

I hushed her and turned my head away from her to the boy again. Who was he? Then I remembered the figure, my Dad. He'd said a boy would come looking. Was this that boy? Looking? Looking for what, for who? Me? Not possible. He had to be looking for something though, it must have been how he'd gotten hurt.

"I assume you'd like your dinner brought up," my grandmother said.

"If that's okay," I replied, still in another world.

Now my grandmother was usually against the idea of keeping guests in our room, but in this predicament, Norma James was not against it at all, neither was my mother, Elora James, but hey, first time for everything, right? Apparently.

I continued to study the visitor. His hair was longish, matted, and a complete mess. His skin was deathly pale, but his eyes, from what I'd seen were nearly black. His shirt had a skull on it, and there were bags beneath his eyes. His hands were thin, his fingers long and paler than his face. On his left hand, there was a skull ring on his middle finger. His jeans were black, full of tears and holes, and his boots were black, covered in mud that was also now on my blanket… oh well, it'd wash.

I sighed and pulled a box from beneath my bed. The packing tape still sealed tightly shut.

The return address was the same as always, Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141 Long Island, New York 11954.

If seemed odd… there wasn't a name at the top of it or anything, but mine was printed neatly above my home address. I stared at the box for a long time, even after my grandmother had brought up the macaroni and cheese with bits of hotdog mixed in. The bowl sat untouched on my dresser behind me. Copper never moved away from the boy, despite food being in the vicinity.

That's what got me. Copper loves food, especially people food, so when he didn't move, I knew I could trust this boy. If Copper was that diligent, then I would trust him. I always trusted my dog, and my instincts.

I looked at the box one more time and sighed, it was time.

I grabbed my pocket knife out of my pocket and opened it with a soft click then slid it across the tape, effectively unsealing the box. I opened it to find a letter.

The letter sat on top of a pair of Chuck Taylor's high tops sneakers, they were navy blue, not really my style, I kinda thought they'd look good in black. As soon as I thought it, they shimmered and turned black. I grinned and set them aside.

Also inside the box was a small GPS unit, a vial identical to the one my mother had given me for our guest, as well as a little multi-tool made of bronze. The tool was cool I supposed, it had a screwdriver, bottle opener, pen, knife, and pliers, as well as a lock pick and a… safe decoder. When I pulled out the knife though, something weird happened. The tool disappeared, instead, I now held a four-inch dagger in my hand. It's handle was adorned with what looked like an ancient map of Greece. It was beyond cool. I gently folded the non-blade side towards the handle, it morphed back into the tool.

I was beyond impressed. This stuff was awesome.

I slid the tool and my pocket knife into my pocket and looked at the GPS. It was odd, no cord or anything to charge it. Maybe it was solar-powered?

I turned it on and it popped up with a sonar thing on it. The screen was clear except for the one blue dot marked at six feet away from me.

The boy.

A key ran along the side, blue for demigod, red for monster, green for mortal. Another dot appeared, this one green, as my mother appeared in the doorway.

"Hey honey just… what the hell is that?"

I shrugged, "came in a package for me," I replied turning it off and going to slip it in my pocket. My mother snatched it out of my hands, then she saw the letter and took it as well, "you are not to touch these again, was there anything else?"

I shook my head, "no."

My mother stormed away and I glared at her back. Looks like I'd have to be protective of my shoes and tool.

"Okay, Jesse, you can get those back later, for now, you're hungry," I told myself as I reached up and took the bowl from the dresser, it was cold by now, but oh well, I ate the macaroni and glanced at my sneakers as the boy continued to sleep. Suddenly, the sneakers sprouted wings and began to fly around my feet, I stared, my spoon hanging from my mouth.

"Holy shit," I muttered, putting the half-finished food on the floor before reaching forward and grabbing the sneakers just above the wings.

"That's… insane," I muttered as the wings folded away and melted into the logo on the shoe.

I immediately took my basically destroyed Airwalks off and slid these on. There were a perfect fit.

I smirked and put the shoes in my desk drawer, just in case they decided to try to fly away again, I then took my empty bowl (Copper must have given up as I was mesmerized by the shoes and eaten) downstairs and put it in the sink, then I went back upstairs.

I was covered in mud and now, blood, so I sighed and put my tool in the drawer with my shoes then grabbed a towel, black tank-top, underwear, bra, and jeans before heading to the bathroom, telling Copper to get me if the boy woke up.

In the bathroom I stripped down and stepped into a boiling hot stream of water. It felt amazing. I began to scrub myself down with cinnamon scented soap, then rubbed similar smelling shampoo into my hair and rinsed it out. From here I shaved quick, and stepped out. At this point I began toweling off, then pulled on my black heart and crossbones bra and underwear set on. This was followed quickly by a black tank top and blue stretch (because you can't explore in tight jeans) skinny jeans. I looked in the mirror and sighed, I wiped the fog out of the way and stared at my reflection.

I looked nothing like my mother aside from my one green eye, the blue one not so much, and my skin was tanned all year round, some people thought I was part Hispanic. I wasn't sure really, so I went with it. My mother was pale though, with really blonde, nearly platinum, hair. My hair was a dark brown and curly unlike my mother's pin straight pony-tail.

I blow-dried my hair and let it hang, now dry around my shoulders, and decided not to do anything with it. From here, I grabbed my towel and headed back to my room where the boy was waking up. I put my towel on the hook by my closet and went over to the bedside, the next thing I knew, my arm was in a death grip. He was squeezing my forearm hard and I was nearly certain they'd bruise.

"Who are you?" The boy growled, sitting up, but still groggy, "where am I?" He was glaring at me.

I grimaced as his grip grew tighter, "relax, I'm Jesse, I found you in the woods, we're in the suburbs of Chicago."

The boy looked at me, "Jesse? You're Jesse?"

I nodded, "would you please let go of my arm?"

The boy release my arm and five bruises in the shape of finger and thumb prints began to spring up. I grimaced and sighed, "so, you know my name," I said, "what's yours?"

The boy glanced over at me, grabbing his head, "Nico, Nico, Di Angelo." He replied rubbing his face. I killed half the lights when he squinted, "better?" I asked. He nodded.

"So Nico, tell me, are you the boy who's searching?"

Nico frowned, looking at me, "how do you…"

I shrugged, "I was told to wait for the boy who was searching, follow my instincts, but follow him, help him search, and go from there."

Nico blinked, "gods, the Fates know I hate company," he muttered, "well then, Jesse, guess you're joining me on this quest."

"No she's not," my mother stood in the doorway, I glared at her, "first my stuff now my conversation, what the hell Mom?"

"You are not going anywhere with this boy, and _you_" she turned to Nico, "don't you utter a word about _your world_ to her, or I'll send you back out to whatever nearly killed you."

Nico narrowed his eyes at her, "Elora James, you of all people should know you cannot control the Fates," he said.

I blinked, "you two know each other?"

"No," my mother said, "and as soon as he's upright, he's leaving."

Nico sighed, "fine by me," he replied.

I shook my head, "are you kidding me? You can't expect me…"

"You will not leave this house with that boy, or any of his irrational thoughts, do you hear me?"

My mother roared this and got right in my face, she was seething in anger.

I glared right back, "you've been in absolute control for years, I think I'll do what I want now, thanks."

My mother slapped me, hard, on the cheek, "you will do as I say, because I am your mother, and I am not losing another love to that world."

I glared at her as she left, giving one final warning look at me. My gaze shifted to the drawer. I went over to my dresser and grabbed a pair of socks and my driving gloves, slipping them on, then I grabbed the tool, the jacket, and the shoes, I tied the shoes on and grabbed my jacket, "whenever you're ready, let me know, I've got something to go get," I said, tossing Nico his jacket, "no rush, sort of."

Nico stared blankly at me as I walked down the stairs, I headed to the kitchen for the cupboard above the stove where mom hid everything she took from me. I grabbed the letter and the GPS thingy, as well as an old map I'd once found sitting on my bed. I slipped them into my pockets inside the new jacket, and went back upstairs. Nico was standing next to the bed. He was holding the two vials of liquid. One with a third missing, one full, "gifts from your dad?"

I nodded, "as far as I know."

Nico nodded, "your Mom isn't going to let you come, she knows something you don't."

I nodded, "pretty much."

"Well, I'm not capable of Shadow Traveling at this point, so we're gonna have to do something else."

I shrugged and lead Nico downstairs, I heard shuffling around above us, meaning Mom was up to something. Grandma stood in the doorway to the kitchen, our only way out.

"You best be careful, and you young man, if she's not in one piece, you'll have to answer to me." Grandma said, she had something in her hand wrapped in a blanket.

"Take this honey, it belonged to your uncle," she said, unwrapping it.

A sword, it was sheathed in leather, Grandma fastened it to my belt.

"You listen to me, your mamma's been trying to change your fate, and she just may succeed in changing it to something worse, so do me a favor, find what you're looking for quickly. There's a bag for you on the kitchen table, take it with you."

I blinked, "Grandma?"

"Listen deary, this is what has to happen, so send me a message once in a while?"

I nodded and sighed, "so… what happened to this mysterious uncle?"

"The same thing you're about to do, but you're different, you'll make it, I know. Now go, before your mother knows you're gone, take the Mustang."

Grandma pressed a set of keys into my hand. Nico was watching, seemingly unsurprised, "we need to go," he said.

I nodded, "see you at some point Grandma," I promised before kissing her cheek and running out the door, Nico on my heels.

She said something like, "only if…" but I couldn't stick around to hear the rest.

We opened the garage, in there, my mom's old Buick sat next to the old Mustang my Grandma would never get rid off.

"Whoa," Nico muttered as I opened the driver's seat, ignoring the throb that had begun in my cheek. I was running away. I opened the back door and whistled. Copper came bounding through the garage and into the car. I shut the back door and got into the driver's seat, good thing I knew how to drive anyway.

Nico looked at me as I started the car and pulled into the driveway, my mother came running out of the house screaming. I waved and shot her a grin, "be back soon, love you!" I called through the window as we sped off. Mom stayed in the yard, and stared. I didn't look back again.

"You just… but you don't even know me."

"Copper trusts you, so that's really all the proof I need," I replied to Nico's comment as I peeled down the road and out of town on a county road, "where am I going?"

"Good question, I have no idea."

"Brilliant, I'll just keep going this way then," I replied.

"So, do you know, then, who your dad is? What we are?"

"Nope, not a clue, all I know is my Grandma just gave me a sword and told me to run."

"Okay, meaning I should start at the beginning."

"We've got a full tank of gas, start talking."

Nico rubbed his face with his hands, clearly still exhausted.

"Well, the Greek gods and goddesses? They actually exist so do the Roman ones, and I'm starting to think the Egyptian ones do too. It's complicated."

"Okay, they exist, what's that got to do with us?"

Nico sighed as I glanced at him then back at the road.

"Well, one of them is your Dad."

I blinked and slammed on the brakes, the car lurched forward, "WHAT?"

Nico groaned and held his head, "please don't do that again."

I rolled my eyes, "sorry," I replied, hitting the accelerator again, we hit sixty miles an hour in three seconds.

"Gods, you're driving skills are shit."

I glared, "you want to drive?"

"Not particularly," Nico replied.

"Didn't think so, now, you were saying?"

"Your dad is a Greek god. I'm thinking Hermes, based on the fact that you had a map on the wall marked 'Places I Want to Go', meaning your dad is the god of thieves, travelers, and jacks-of-all-trades."

I nodded, "makes some sense, I guess."

"The gods aren't allowed to visit their kids because Zeus made a law about it, because we're a 'distraction' and so that's why you've probably never met him."

I shook my head, "no, I… I have, once, he gave me package three years ago with magic shoes, a magic knife-thing, and other good stuff."

Nico held up the two vials, "these?"

"Just one of them, what is it?"

"Nectar of the gods, heals demigods' wounds, but too much will kill you."

I nodded, "miracle drug basically."

Nico nodded.

"So demigods, there's more of us?"

Nico nodded, "yeah, tons, most of them live at one of two camps. Camp Jupiter, or Camp Half-Blood, one on Long Island, one in Los Angeles."

I nodded, "you're from?"

"Neither, I travel between the two, keeping the peace, as well as avoiding people."

I nodded, "sounds about right, so you're parent Greek or Roman?"

"Greek, he's Hades."

I nodded, "cool, so… what's this thing about searching for something?"

"Stop the car," Nico said.

I blinked and eased on the brakes. "Reverse, fifty feet," Nico said.

I did so and stopped again, I didn't see what Nico was looking at then a tree came flying, as if thrown, out of the woods, it landed against another tree to the left as a huge… thing came out of the woods. It was like a multi-headed dragon. A…

"Hydra," Nico gulped, "as fast as you can go, now."

I nodded and hit the gas, in the back Copper barked violently at the Hydra, I shifted into high gear as the speedometer as the needle peeked one-hundred. We weren't losing it though, I swore, and hoped Grandma's and my repairs to the thing worked, "don't fail me now," I urged as the needle hit one-twenty, the Hydra was still giving chase, coming up almost twice as fast as we were. I hit the brakes and spun the wheel, we spun seven-hundred and twenty degrees as the Hydra smashed into the road, it looked dazed, so I gunned the accelerator and sped back around it, flying down the road, leaving it in my dust. Nico looked green, and Copper was dazed, laying on the back seats with his paws over his eyes, I was grinning like a madwoman, "can I drive or what?"

Nico moaned, "I'll go with or what," he murmured as we continued on down the highway, now at a comfortable sixty miles an hour.

"Suit yourself, now, the search?"

"It's a quest, and frankly, I've got no idea what I'm doing."

"Quest, okay, for what exactly?"

"That's just it, I have no idea, nobody does, it just has to be found by the winter solstice."

I blinked and turned on another country route, needing a change of scenery, we were soon driving along the beach of some lake.

"So, you're searching for a _thing_ and it has to be found by a deadline, but you have no hint as to what it might be."

Nico shook his head, "there's a prophecy about it."

"What's the prophecy?"

Nico sighed and opened his mouth, "well, it goes like this.

_"The son of the underworld searches alone_

_until the traveling child becomes known_

_Search for a contradiction begins with a door_

_the travelers seek a city of the shore_

_A child found whose claiming never before seen_

and the journey shall end when it lies between

"That's it."

I raised a brow, "that's it," I muttered, then I sighed, begins with a door.

"Son of the underworld searches alone until the traveling child is known… I'm the traveling child aren't I?"

Nico shrugged, "if Hermes, and there it is…"

I raised a brow and glanced up above my head, a caduceus floated. I looked at Nico.

"Hermes has officially claimed you, meaning the traveling child is known, so Jesse, welcome to the quest."

I smirked, "alright then, a quest, at least we've got Copper," I said. At this I glanced back at my dog, and put a hand back to scratch his ear, he licked my hand before I put it back on the steering wheel.

"So, now we have to look for some door? Great," Nico muttered, "as if there aren't a million doors in this county, let alone the nation." Nico muttered, massaging his temples. I sighed, "well, if you're tired, take a nap, because at this point, there's just a lot of driving to do, where would we even find this door?"

Nico shrugged, "guess we'll know it when we see it."

I nodded and hit the gas, speeding up as the speed limit went from forty to fifty-five.

Soon enough, Nico was passed out, and I had time to think, which I do best out loud.

"So, I'm the daughter of a god, and now I'm wrapped up in a quest after finding some boy name Nico who says he's the son of Hades, the god of the underworld, injured in the woods, and somehow, it's seven in the evening and I'm running away from my mother with a sword my grandmother gave me after telling me to run away with mentioned boy, Nico."

Copper whined and I sighed, this was nuts, it all happened so fast, but now that things were winding down, I was starting to think I was crazy.

"This is all just some crazy dream, I'll wake up, and nothing will have happened," I muttered to myself. We came to stop at a gas station, and I realized something, I didn't have any money. With a sigh I opened the glove box to find an envelope labeled "Jesse James" as in me.

I pulled it out and opened it up, a fake drivers' license, with my picture on it, saying I was nineteen, a passport with my nineteen year old ID included, and a thousand dollars in cash.

There was a note.

"Honey Pie," I read out loud, "here's something to help you on this quest of yours, Hermes said you might want it. Love, Grandma James."

I stared at the stuff she'd known… she'd talked to Hermes? What the hell? My grandmother, a sweet, kind, and seemingly innocent old woman had gone out and gotten my a fake ID, fake passport, and a thousand dollars cash.

I knew I was going crazy.

With a sigh I put the license, money, and passport in the pocket on the inside of my jacket, I took out a one hundred-dollar bill and fed it into the gas pump, then filled the tank, it spit thirty dollars out at me and I went inside to grab some snacks and drinks, as well as dog food and a dish for Copper.

I'd grabbed a cheese pizza, and two huge things of water, as well as coffee, a five-pound bag of dog food, a plastic bowl, and a bag of apples, and two packages of spearmint gum, it cost me thirty dollars.

Back in the car, Nico had woken up, he eyes the stuff in my hand as I got in the car.

"Is that coffee?"

I nodded, "black," I said.

"Can I have a sip?  
>"Sure," I replied, handing it to him, "I don't know what you like, but I've got pizza and apples, Copper, you wanna eat something?"<p>

Copper barked and I nodded, "give me a minute to pull away from the pump."

I pulled up to the actual parking space and opened the dog food, scooped the bowl through it, then put it on the seat for Copper. I looked at Nico who still had my coffee in his hand and smirked, "I'm gonna go get another coffee, be right back," I replied before heading in. I bought another coffee, the clerk looked at me, I grinned, "my friend swiped it, not realizing I came in for food," I said with a smirk as I accepted the change and the cup.

He just nodded and I left again. By now, Copper was done eating, so I put the bowl in the bag of dog food and closed it up, putting it on the floor with the apples. The pizza box was on the dash, the water on the floor at Nico's feet. Our coffee's were in the cup holders.

I smirked as Nico took another sip of the black coffee, "this stuff is amazing."

"Yeah? I think so too, I practically live off of coffee, my arteries are full of the stuff, instead of blood I assume."

Nico cracked a half-smile, but fell silent again. He was depressed, it was obvious, to me at least, and it wasn't something he wanted to talk about, which was fine, I'd listen if he decided to tell me.

"So, unless you like the idea of taking turns sleeping then driving, I hope you like sleeping in a car. I've got nine-hundred dollars, and most of it has to be for gas money, unless you prefer an alternate mode of transportation."

Nico shifted in his seat, "well, there is one way, Shadow Traveling, but it tires me out pretty quick. One thing's for sure though, I can't drive."

I nodded, "sleeping in the car it is."

Nico nodded and I pulled out of the drive, continuing down the road. We were silent for hours as my mind began to turn at the idea that I was a child of Hermes. It explained so much about that, well, odd visit from my dad.

It was after eleven when I began to feel a bit drowsy, then a deer jumped out in front of the car. I hit the brakes in time, but that made me stop.

"We've got to stop for the night, I'm exhausted," I said.

"Yeah, sure, wherever you want to stop."

I pulled on a road leading to a state park and followed it up into the parking lot. It wasn't totally empty, so I parked the car and turned it off, about ten spaces away, and leaned my seat back some. Nico did the same, and soon enough, we were both asleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up a little after three a.m. to find it storming out. It was pretty bad, with thunder, lightning, and pouring rain.<p>

Nico was wide awake and staring out the window.

"Hey," I muttered, still tired, as I sat up some. I noticed Copper wasn't in the car.

"Where's my dog?"

"I'm watching him, he needed to use the bathroom, so I let him out. He hasn't left a ten foot radius of the car."

I nodded and followed Nico's gaze, sure enough, Copper came off the grass and Nico got reached behind him to open the back door from inside the car. Copper came in and shook all the water off of him.

"Copper!" Nico and I both whined. I smiled, "you crazy dog," I said, scratching behind his ears. Nico patted his head, before petting him. Copper leaned into it.

"So, do we stay here with the risk of flood warnings, or move?" Nico asked.

"I usually suck at driving in the rain, but whatever, it's probably a safer bet to move."

Nico nodded and sat his seat up, belting in as i did the same, then started the car. I turned the radio on, it alerted flash flooding for basically a one-hundred mile radius of where we were.

"Well, that sucks," I muttered, "I can try to get us up into higher ground, but it will involve some backtracking."  
>Nico nodded, "whatever you say."<p>

I put the car into drive and left the place, noticing that most of the campers had done the same. From here, we set out and back east on the county road, it was some pretty nasty driving conditions, so I didn't push it faster than forty. At this rate, it would be an hour until we found somewhere that might be out of the flood zone.

As I drove, Nico stayed quiet, which was kinda surprising, but nice at the same time. I wasn't much of a talker myself.

"So, Jesse, how'd you learn how to drive?"

I blinked and glanced at Nico, before gazing out at the road. It wasn't my favorite story to tell.

"Sorry, just curious I guess," he replied.

"No, it's okay, see… my mom, she'd had way too much to drink one night, and we had to be back home by that morning in order for me to get to school, so my grandmother, who'd also been kinda tipsy, sat shotgun, my mom passed out in the back, and she taught me how to drive. It was five days before I turned thirteen.

"I was a natural, so I became my mom's designated driver if Grandma was busy."

Nico glanced at me as I put my arm on the center console, driving one-handed, as I played with the bracelet I'd wrapped around the shift bar.

"That's awful, I mean, cool that you know how to drive, but awful."

I shrugged, "what can you do?"

Then I saw the flashing lights. I swore, "look sick," I said, "and don't talk, just moan a little or something, don't over sell it."

The police officer pulled his car right up by ours, I rolled my window down.

"Miss it's a terrible night to be driving, I'm under orders to get everyone off the roads."

I nodded, "we're trying to find a hotel sir, my friend and I were camping, didn't know about the rain, you know of any hotels around here?"

The officer nodded, "about five miles up the road there's a truck stop, keep heading this way, and drive safe miss."

I nodded, "thank you!" I called before rolling my window up. Nico shot me a look when the officer pulled away, "why'd you want me to look sick?"

"In case I needed an excuse about why we didn't stay where we were."

Nico nodded, "right."

"Just go with it, okay?"

Nico shrugged and we headed the five miles up to a diner/hotel on the right. I turned into the parking lot. It was basically full, so I pulled around back and just parked.

"Want to rent a room, or no?"

Nico shook his head, "save the money, we're already down to half a tank again."

I nodded and we stopped, I sighed and put my seat back before petting Copper. He put his head on the rest next to mine, licking my cheek. I grinned and laughed a little.

"So, Nico, how come you don't chose a camp? Sounds to me that they're safe places for people like us, but you travel between."

"I'm not used to socializing with people who aren't dead," Nico said as he leaned back. Copper then jumped up and laid across the top of us, I groaned as he settled down, laying his head on my waist and his rump on Nico's.

"Does he do this often?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, this is pretty common, just not really to strangers, he must really like you. Wouldn't leave your side when you were out, not even for free food left within his reach."

Nico raised a brow and scratched his back, "I guess dogs just like me, my cousin has a hell-hound, Mrs. O'Leary, she likes me a lot too."

I smiled, "meaning I can totally trust you. I don't trust people who my dog doesn't like, and the opposite stands true as well."

Nico nodded, "I can understand that, so that map in your room, got something against New York?"

"I don't like big cities, they mean lots of people, and I don't like people, most of them anyway."

Nico grinned, "that's what I live by."

I smirked and yawned as I stroked Copper's head, "so, Nico, you must have spent a lot of time in the underworld? I mean socializing with people who aren't alive kind of entails that."

Nico glared at the windshield, "what of it?"

"Nothing, I mean, it's pretty cool, your Dad pays that much attention to you. I only wish my mom and dad you do that."

Nico sighed, "yeah, Hades gets really over protective, not to mention all the secrets he keeps, it's just annoying."

I smirked, "if only. Mom is over-controlling, she wants to know where I am, what I'm doing every second of every day, but if it's because she cares, it doesn't show."

Nico nodded, "that I can understand some. I mean, my dad locked me up in a time pausing resort casino for almost sixty years before pulling my sister and I out. After that things went down hill."

I nodded, "that's life though, Fates are cruel."

Nico nodded in agreement, then he looked over at me, "Jesse, that photo on your mirror, of a boy your age, who was that?"

I smirked, "that photo's old, it's of my uncle."

Nico nodded, "there's a photo of him at camp."

I blinked, "really?"

Nico nodded, "yeah, I think he was killed during a quest though."

I nodded, "mom said he died before I was born, she always called him her ray of sunshine."

"Son of Apollo, probably."  
>I shrugged, I honestly didn't know, "I never really knew. Mom didn't talk about him except to say he was her brother and she missed him. Maybe that's why she was so protective, not wanting the same thing to happen to me."<p>

"Maybe, didn't your grandmother say she'd tried to change the Fates, as if trying to protect you."

"She'll probably get me killed."

Nico shrugged, "it's dangerous to mess with them, but it has been done before."

I nodded, "I guess I can only hope I survive this then."

"Don't we all?"

I nodded, "so, your sister, doesn't she miss you?"

Nico looked away, "the other way around. She was killed on a quest almost three years ago now."

I put my hand on his shoulder, Nico tensed a bit, but didn't shove me away, "sorry I brought it up."

Nico shook his head, "she was amazing, and it wasn't anyone's fault but her own. She… she wanted to join the Hunters of Artemis, she wanted to do something for herself instead of for me, once I realized that, I went from being angry, to being depressed."

I noticed the tears in his eyes and turned away, pretending not to see it, but keeping my hand on his shoulder. We watched the rain fall for hours, until I noticed he'd fallen asleep. I rubbed his shoulder again and closed my eyes before falling asleep myself.

When I woke up, it was light out, but the rain hadn't stopped. Instead of a heavy pour it became a slow drizzle, so I let Copper out of the car and grabbed my water, I let Copper drink from my hands, then took a couple sips for myself as Nico woke up. I grabbed a slice of the pizza we hadn't touched, and folded it half before taking a bite.

"Morning," I said as I swallowed, "though it's apparently afternoon," I muttered before taking another bite of cold pizza.

"Hi, gods, so, what now?"

I shrugged and let Copper out to do his business as Nico sat his seat up, "I'll be right, back," he said heading for the diner. I smirked, figuring he'd probably need to use the bathroom.

With a sigh I finished my pizza and let Copper back into the car, then gave him a bowl of food that he wolfed down. Nico returned and sighed, "traveling by car is pretty cool, haven't done it often."

I shrugged, "the effect wears off after your legs get stiff and you can't really change positions for twelve hours."

Nico cringed, I laughed, "come on, Ghost Boy, we've got a door to find."

We traveled on for hours, heading south now, we'd crossed state lines and gone into Iowa. Nico and I were quiet, I eventually turned on the radio, "got a preference?" I asked. Nico shook his head, "you're the driver."

I grinned and turned on the Heavy Metal station, Nico smirked, and eventually I began to sing along to the music. I noticed Nico humming and singing. I grinned, "don't be shy, I'm tone def, so join in," I said during the guitar solo of a song by Suicide Silence. Ghost Boy looked at me warily, but the next song he joined in.

Eventually, we were just a couple of kids and a dog flying down the road singing stupid songs without a care in the world. Even Copper was howling along as he stuck his head out the window. I pulled on a four-lane highway, heading west.

"Hey," I said suddenly as I pulled over into a parking area to let Copper out, "I have a map."

Nico stared at me.

"You have a what?"

"A map! Holy shit I never even thought about it!"  
>Copper dodged around searching for a good spot and Nico put some water in his bowl for him next to the tire as we spread the map out on the hood of the car.<p>

Nico stared at it. A red line traced where we'd been, and a little glowing marker showed where we were, in almost the dead center of Iowa.

"Okay, so this is where we've been, and this, must be important." I said, pointing to a green spot that glowed slightly on a small town in New Mexico. There was also a spot dead center between two blue glowing dots; the midway point between the camps.

"So, we need to get to New Mexico, and then back here? I mean the last line, 'the journey will end when it lies between'," I muttered, at this point I was beyond annoyed.

"But the shoreline part, what about that?"

I shrugged, "good question?"

Nico shrugged and I folded the map back up, "we'll head in that general direction, unless… I hope to gods we don't have to go all the way to New Mexico just to find that door."

Nico shrugged and I sighed.

"This is going to suck." Nico concluded.

I nodded in agreement, this quest, was really going to suck.

**A/N: Hey, so please review, there will be more OC's introduced later on, but for now, let's see how Nico handles having company as he travels around. Granted he seemingly doesn't mind Jesse J's company. **

**Please read and review! I thrive on them.**

**Thanks! **

**Raven**


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